Lyft's Rides Are So Social That A Driver Invited A Passenger Over For Thanksgiving Dinner

Lyft, the on-demand ride-sharing startup known for its pink
mustaches and fist bumps, is aiming to create a real-world social
network.

With Lyft, all you have to do is tap a button to request a ride.
Within usually just a few minutes, your driver will pick you up
and greet you with a friendly fist bump.

"We see Lyft as not just an app, but a movement of people coming
together in cities and having conversations about things that
matter," Lyft CEO John Zimmer tells Business Insider. "You're
around some of the most interesting people in the world and you
don't talk to them. More and more people are craving in-person
interactions."

That's why Lyft is trying to build a real-world social network
that just so happens to be the best way to get from point A to
point B, Zimmer says. Down the road, Lyft may integrate more of
your social graph into the experience. That means you could get a driver who has
similar interests or mutual friends.

But even without that, Lyft
drivers and passengers are already forming deep connections. One
Thanksgiving, Zimmer says, a driver invited a passenger over to
dinner because they had nowhere else to go. Lyft drivers have
also been helpful to passengers going through breakups. On the
flipside, passengers have even brought flowers for
drivers.

But Lyft still has quite a long
road ahead. Moving forward, Zimmer expects regulation to continue
to create hurdles along the way.

Just last week, the city council in Chicago
subpoenaed insurance records from ride-sharing firms like Uber,
Lyft and Sidecar. Meanwhile, over in Seattle, the city council
recently approved legislation that would allow only 150 drivers
from each ride-sharing app to be on the road at any one
time.

To address some of these
concerns, Lyft has recently been stepping up its insurance game.
Last month, Lyft extended its collision coverage for
drivers who already have it on their personal policies, and added
coverage for injuries to drivers and passengers who get hit by
uninsured or under-insured motorists. Just yesterday, Lyft announced that it would also roll out
insurance coverage for drivers on duty even if they don't have a
passenger in the car.